Tea and Cookies
by wingsofseyfert12
Summary: Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is not to speak but to simply listen.


Disclaimer: All rights to the name "Lucky Star" belong solely to Kagami Yoshimizu. I neither own this franchise nor do I profit from the writing of this story.

Author's Note: Guess what I should be doing? All in the Family! Guess what I'm NOT doing? All in the Family. This one shot was inspired by a friend of mine who actually suggested this pairing. So, here goes nothing.

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><p>Yukari Takara stared idle at the cooling cup of tea. She had just made some earlier not because she was thirsty but because she was bored. There was really nothing much to do around the house.<p>

She thought of doing chores but she already had a hired maid to do that job. While Yukari was a good cook she really could not handle any other chore besides that. She was far too clumsy to actually do any of the household tasks efficiently. Washing the dishes often made the floors cleaner than the actual dishes that were supposed to get washed.

Then there was TV but she normally did not watch it. The TV either made her more bored with the brainless crap that was so prevalent on the streams nowadays or it scared the living daylights out of her. The thought of all the horrible things going around the world, she didn't even want to think about it.

The pink haired woman even thought about perhaps going back to work though it was not to be heard of. Her parents had left her with a huge inheritance and it would be unbecoming of her to start working. They even frowned upon Miyuki's academic progress saying that it was all for naught. Miyuki was not expected to go out and work like some poor serf. She was expected to maintain prim properness as a lady. Sciences and stuff were irrelevant when it came to social stature.

The thought made Yukari frown and she knew that she was already drawing much ire from her relatives for allowing Miyuki to continue with her studies and even apply for university. As the older woman looked about her she could not help but sigh. She felt so worthless staying couped up inside her house all day. She was hardly what one would call 'smart' and her lack of work experience and clumsiness made her an undesirable in many work establishments.

She vowed to herself that Miyuki would not be like her. She vowed that Miyuki would grow up to become a productive adult capable of contributing to society. That was the one dream that Yukari Takara held on to. That her dear daughter would soon out do her mother and succeed and live life by her own rules, not to the whim of others.

Yukari soon picked up her cup of tea and proceeded to sip from it and nearly spat it out due to how cold and dull it tasted now. Not wanting to stain the expensive, heart pine table top (courtesy of her father), she refrained from spitting her tea out and swallowed with a frown on her face.

The door bell rang at that very moment and Yukari's normally obscure eyes suddenly opened wide with joy. Her little girl was back! Miyuki was finally back from school!

Yukari Takara hummed to herself quietly as she skipped over to the door and opened it. She was greeted to the sight of not only her daughter but also of a lavender haired, twin tailed girl. The young woman looked familiar to Yukari but the poor woman was so horrible with names.

"Hello Miyuki dear. I see you brought a friend." said Yukari kindly.

"Yes. I hope you don't mind mother." said Miyuki politely.

"Hmm...I know I have seen you before. What was your name again? Kyou?" asked Yukari.

Kagami seemed to smile nervously, not sure whether to be annoyed or to remain polite. Miyuki was somewhat embarrassed and turned red.

"Its Hiiragi mother. Kagami Hiiragi. She is from the class next door to mine and is one the smartest students in our entire grade. I figured that if the both of us studied together we could better our chances in the upcoming final exams." said Miyuki as a matter of fact.

Yukari Takara took the time to look at Kagami for a bit, slightly creeping the younger woman out a bit, before the pink haired woman soon spoke.

"I think that such a splendid idea! You are already so smart Miyuki and I was always worried that people wouldn't be your friend and make fun of you. I'm glad that you made friends with someone that is also smart! Now you two run along and start studying and I'll make sure to bring you some cookies or something." said Yukari Takara with a smile.

Miyuki and Kagami both took the time to bow down in respect.

"We would love that." said Miyuki.

"Thank you for letting me come over to study with your daughter Takara-san." replied Kagami respectfully.

"Now now. No reason to do that. I'm more than happy to let you over. Now move along. That homework of yours isn't going to finish itself you know!" said Yukari happily.

At once both Kagami and Miyuki started to make their way upstairs. Yukari watched their forms retreat into her daughter's room before hearing the door shut with a click.

For a moment Yukari stared at space for a while before she started to feel an overwhelming sense of anger and sadness.

Yukari Takara shook her head furiously.

"Now's not the time." she thought harshly before making her way into the kitchen.

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><p>It was late in the evening and Yukari found herself on the phone speaking to a telemarketer once again.<p>

When Yukari stopped and thought about it it was actually quite pathetic. She was so bored and lonely that she actually took the time to entertain telemarketers. Of course she had acquaintances but that was all they were. Most of them only seemed to be close to her due to the fortune she had acquired. In fact the only person that Yukari could even call a friend was Iwasaki and even then it wasn't very close.

Of course it wasn't only telemarketers that she had spent her time speaking with.

She found that she often spoke to cashiers, the bank tellers, the bus driver, the train conductor, pretty much any stranger.

And as she thought really hard about it she found that most of the people she spoke to were young men.

It wasn't that unusual truth be told. Her late husband had died in a plane crash long ago when Miyuki was but a toddler. While the man was civil and added to their fortune with his prestigious job he wasn't very attentive towards Yukari.

At his funeral Yukari could not summon the sorrow or tears. She really did not feel anything at all towards the man. This had strained relations between her husband's family with her own.

But that was ancient history.

Right now she was in an exciting conversation with male telemarketer right now. The man seemed to be a young father and was currently asking Yukari for parental advice when all of all sudden the door bell rang.

"I'm sorry dear but I'm going to have to hang up. It was nice speaking to you. Just remember. Don't have your baby lie on her back all night. It will do more harm than good. Toodles!"

With that Yukari got out of her couch and made her way toward the door. She opened it and was rather surprised by who it was.

In front of her appeared a tired looking, middle aged man that clearly looked like he worked too much. His hair was receding a bit already and his face was lined with some stress wrinkles. He wasn't in fabulous shape but he wasn't fat either. It looked like he at least did SOME physical routine that kept his rather decent figure. His arms were rather brawny.

"Good evening Takara-san. I'm here to pick up my daughter." said the man.

"Oh...I assume you're the girl's father. What was your name again...Hiiragi am I not right?" asked Yukari.

"Yes. I had just got out of work so I figured I would pick my daughter up on the way back." said Hiiragi Tadao with a tired smile on his face.

Yukari took a moment to observe the man before her and she could not help but get a strange vibe from him. Every movement he made looked like he was burdened by something. It was as if there was an eternal weight placed upon his shoulders. Even holding his eyelids open seemed to be a difficult task for this man.

_I wonder why he looks so...defeated. Its like everything he does requires so much effort on his part. Could it be his work perhaps?_

"Umm...Takara-san? I'm flattered that you have taken this time to stare at me but I would rather you call my daughter." said Tadao with a tired voice.

Yukari suddenly realized that she did in fact keep her eyes on the slightly older man for longer than she should and immediately blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry Hiiragi-san! Give me a moment." said Yukari as she rushed upstairs.

_That was so embarrassing! I did not mean to look at him that long. I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea!_

At once Yukari knocked on the door.

"Honey. Hiiragi-san's father is here for her." said Yukari kindly through the door.

The older woman could hear some shuffling going on inside the room as if there was a mad scramble going on in there. The older woman was somewhat curious as to why there was such a commotion going on in there. Surely studying wouldn't warrant it.

Soon Miyuki poked her head out along with Kagami.

"C-Can you tell my father to wait a while. We're almost done but we still need some time." said Kagami, her face a bit flushed.

Yukari could not help but be a bit suspicious of this but merely thought that the girls were stressed and decided to leave it at that.

"Okay then. Just let me know when you two are finished." said Yukari with a smile and made her way downstairs.

Tadao was still outside near the doorway. At once Yukari spoke.

"Your daughter and mine are still studying and have not finished. Would you perhaps want to come inside? I still have some tea and cookies." smiled Yukari.

"Its alright. I don't mind waiting out here." said Tadao.

"Oh come now you're a guest. I can't just leave you outside!" said Yukari as she dragged the man in by the arm.

Tadao could not help but feel rather flustered by this turn of events but decided to just give in and let the woman entertain him. It would do him no good to pour cold water on her efforts.

As Tadao sat on a comfy sofa he was left alone for a while before Yukari came back with two cups of steaming tea. She placed these on the table, opposite of each other while the plate of cookies centered everything out.

Both started to sip silently at the tea not speaking a word with each other. There was a bit of an awkward silence and soon, being the man, Tadao broke the ice.

"You must be really proud of your daughter. My two girls have often told me that your daughter is probably the smartest person they have ever met." said Tadao as sipped on his tea.

"That's so nice of them! Sometimes I think that my Miyuki is the smartest person alive as well. It seems that no matter what the problem is she always seems to have an answer." said Yukari with a smile.

"I see. You did a great job raising her. You must be pretty smart yourself to mother a daughter like that." said Tadao with a tired smile.

Yukari placed the tea back on the table and shook her head silently in disagreement.

"I'm not really that smart. I remember reading stories to Miyuki when she was child but soon there came a time when she started to read all on her own. After that I no longer was needed to read stories to her. She would read them on her own. And that was when she started to ask questions. She wanted to know everything and wanted an answer no matter what. She always asked me things and I'm ashamed to say that I could never help her. I...I..."

It was at this point that Yukari started to visibly tremble, much to Tadao's dismay.

"I felt so stupid. To know that my little girl was already so much smarter than me. Before I knew it she knew to no longer come to me for answers or for advice. Instead she would tell me about all the things she learned and soon I found myself asking HER about advice and answers. I found myself seeking her help when I found myself stumped. Sometimes I don't even feel like I'm her mother. I feel more like a...dumb older sister. And while I know that Miyuki doesn't mean it there are times when she blatantly disregards something I say or would totally ignore me when I try to give her advice. I-I even saw her roll her eyes at me once."

"I don't blame her. All my life I was told to be a lady and that I did not have to worry about getting advanced education. And now I regret it. I wish I was smart so that I could help Miyuki whenever she had trouble. I wish that I had the skills necessary to work. Instead I just waste away in here in this porcelain castle not doing a damn thing except talk to telemarketers and the mail man all day. That if I had only been smart with a good job maybe Miyuki would not look at me as a silly older sister and instead look to me as a mother worthy of her respect and beacon for guidance. Miyuki does make me proud and she will be a somebody one day, I know it. I just regret not being able to contribute to her success as a mother." said Yukari miserably as she stared at her tea.

Tadao did not know what to say. What COULD he say? He came in here just so that he could pick his daughter up not listen to a woman spew her life story at him.

At the same time he could not help but feel somewhat honored that she took the time to speak to him about her insecurities. From what he could tell she must have been really lonely if she took time out of her day to speak to the mail man of all people.

"I know that I bored you with all this talk. I'm sorry I didn't mean to vent at you like that." said Yukari in a regretful tone.

"Its nothing to worry about. I don't mind. It seems that you have many problems and issues. But shouldn't you be talking to your husband about these things?" asked Tadao curiously.

Yukari only bowed her head as her eyes darkened.

"My husband passed away a long time ago." said Yukari sadly.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pried like that." replied Tadao.

"No, you didn't know so I'm not angry or anything. I'm just glad that you were willing to listen." said Yukari with a sorrowful tone.

"Dad I'm finished!" said Kagami as she walked downstairs from Miyuki's room. The pink haired girl waved her goodbye and bowed to Tadao from upstairs before making her way back to her room.

"Seems you studied quite hard there. You look all flustered and out of breath. I'm glad that I'm not in high school anymore if the homework makes you all stressed out like this." laughed Tadao at the sight of Kagami's unusually flustered face and hair.

"Q-Quit it dad!"

"Okay dear. Here are the keys. Go and start the car for me I'll catch up with you in a bit." said Tadao with a smile.

"Okay!" said Kagami as she grabbed the keys and kind of skipped her way toward the car.

_Kagami is looking unusually happy. I guess her study session went really well for her to be in such a chipper mood._

Tadao then turned to find Yukari standing in front of him near the door.

"Thank you for letting my daughter come and study and entertaining me in the meantime. I really appreciate it." said Tadao with a smile.

Imagine Tadao's shock as he suddenly felt a pair of lips softly make contact with his own. It did not last very long and was somewhat chaste but it still left an impression. Yukari pulled away as she looked on a stunned Tadao.

"No...thank you for being there to listen. Maybe next time you can come on your own. I would be very interested in speaking with you again. Perhaps I'll even bake my shortcake. Thank you once again. Have a good night." said Yukari with a smile before closing the door.

Tadao stared at the door for quite some time as he passed his fingers through his lips still in disbelief that this event actually happened.

Even so he could not help but smile. He had very few friends and he wouldn't mind having another.

As he walked towards the car he could not help but notice that his lips were still tingling.

And that his stomach was completely full of butterflies.

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><p>Author's Note: For once not a perverted, sick story. One shot guys I'm not going to update this any more. However could this be a pairing between the two? Quite possibly but this is as far as I'm going to take it. Hopefully everyone is in character. Hope you all enjoyed.<p> 


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